The Ross collection covers August 1974 to June 1975 and concerns his work as Assistant Director for Natural Resources at the Domestic Council. The material mainly concerns environmental matters, agriculture, Indian affairs, and U.S. territories.

QUANTITY
5.8 linear feet (ca. 11,600 pages)

DONOR
Gerald R. Ford (accession number 77-107)

ACCESS
Open. Some items are temporarily restricted under terms of the donor's deed of gift, a copy of which is available on request, or under National Archives and Records Administration general restrictions (36 CFR 1256).

COPYRIGHT
Gerald Ford donated to the United States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to remain with them. Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public domain.

1973 - Office of the Secretary, Department of Agriculture. On detail to the White House in the office of the Counsellor for Natural Resources (Earl Butz). He was later detailed to the Domestic Council.

1974-75 - Assistant Director for Natural Resources of the Domestic Council

1975 - Assistant to the chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission

INTRODUCTION

The Ross collection covers the period August 1974 to June 1975 and details his work on environmental matters, agriculture, Indian affairs, and territorial matters. Frequently, earlier materials from the Nixon administration appear in the files. Although Ross divided his files among several successors when he left the Domestic Council, his collection now includes most of this material. After his successors finished using his files, they usually retired the materials virtually intact to the White House Central Files.

Ross joined the Domestic Council staff in January 1974, after serving for several months on detail to the Council. He was one of two assistants to Richard Fairbanks and Michael Raoul-Duval, who successively headed the natural resources policy area.

Like most of the Domestic Council staff, Ross was responsible for policy formulation; the preparation and review of such documents as decision memoranda, briefing papers, legislative proposals, fact sheets, and responses to correspondence; soliciting comments and recommendations from White House staff and agency officials; and maintaining ongoing contact with federal agencies and Congress on behalf of the President.

Within the natural resources policy area, Ross specialized on issues relating to agriculture, the environment, Indian affairs and territorial affairs. He worked closely with officials from such agencies as the Departments of Agriculture and Interior, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Water Resources Council, and the Council on Environmental Quality.

During the eleven months that Norman Ross served on the Ford Domestic Council, he appears to have been most active on issues related to the environment and to Puerto Rico and the U.S. territories. His environmental files contain material on such subjects as air pollution, water quality, the National Ocean Policy Study, and the construction of the Cross Florida Barge Canal. The files contain little on automobile emission standards and strip mining, which Glenn Schleede, also assistant director for natural resources, usually handled. A few items relate to the work of Douglas Costle, whom Ross began training in May 1975 to assume responsibility for environmental matters. However, Costle left the Domestic Council after only a few weeks.

Several folders on environmental issues contain material from 1973. While most of the 1973 material consists of press releases, material from as early as January 1974 appears in the files. One Ross file relates entirely to proposed input on natural resources issues for President Nixon's 1974 State of the Union Address and a follow-up environmental and natural resources message.

The most significant Ross file on Interior Department matters relates to the status of Puerto Rico, especially the work of the Ad hoc Advisory Committee on Puerto Rico. Ross served as the President's representative on theis body from April 1974 to June 1975. His files include correspondence, memoranda, drafts of the Compact of Permanent Union, testimony and newspaper clippings concerning both administrative matters relating to the operation of the Committee and the policy proposals it developed.

Ross was apparently not as active on agricultural issues. The Ford administration offered few agricultural initiatives, so much of his material concerns complaints about the general state of American agriculture or the problems involved with raising a specific crop or producing livestock.

Related Materials
(May 1982)
Materials related to the Ross files can be found in the Domestic Council staff files of his successors - Paul Leach (agriculture); Tod Hullin and George Humphreys (environment); James Falk, Sam Halper and Dean Overman (Puerto Rico and the territories); and Arthur Quern, Spencer Johnson and Sarah Massengale (food stamps). Material on Indian affairs appears in the Domestic Council files of Janet Brown and the White House staff files of Theodore Marrs, Bobbie Kilberg and Bradley Patterson. Ross' files of Q and A briefing sheets, 1974-75, can be found in White House Central Files OA 3264.

SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

Agriculture Subject File, 1974-75.
(Boxes 1-3, 1.0 linear feet)
Memoranda to and from the White House staff, Domestic Council staff, the President and officials of the departments and agencies; correspondence between Ross and individual citizens or organizations; briefing papers; notes on meetings; press releases; publications. Among the topics are the Commodity Futures Trading Commission Act of 1974, milk prices, the Russian grain deal, and a timber policy study.

Department of the Interior and Environmental Agencies Subject File, 1973-75.
(Boxes 3-7, 1.8 linear feet)
Memoranda to and from the White House staff, Domestic Council staff, the President and officials of the departments and agencies; correspondence between Ross and individual citizens or organizations; question and answer briefing sheets; press releases; and publications. Besides environmental issues, this file concerns the relationship between the United States and the commonwealth of Puerto Rico and between the United States and its territories. Among the topics are the Cross Florida Barge Canal, the status of Puerto Rico, mineral resources, the National Ocean Policy Study, and the drafting of an environmental and natural resources message for President Nixon.

Indian Affairs Subject File, 1972-75.
(Boxes 8-11, 1.6 linear feet)
Memoranda to and from the White House staff, Domestic Council staff, the President, and officials of the departments and agencies; correspondence from individual citizens and organizations; press releases; legislation; legal briefs; and publications. This series mainly concerns economic enterprises owned by Indian tribes, protests staged by groups of Indians, and proposed legislation to assist Indians. Topics include the Bureau of Indian Affairs; a protest at Eagle Bay, New York; a court decision on salmon fishing rights of Indians in Washington state; the Kootenai nation; and expansion of a ski resort operated by the Mescalero Apaches.

General Subject File, 1974-75.
(Box 12, 0.4 linear feet)
Memoranda to and from other members of the Domestic Council staff, correspondence with individuals and organizations, press releases, a mail log, and publications. This series is basically administrative in nature and concerns such topics as the organization of the Domestic Council, invitations received by Ross, and the handling of mail he received.

Referrals, 1974-75.
(Box 13, 0.2 linear feet)
Referral sheets and some correspondence. This series concerns mail from the public which Ross referred to departments and agencies to draft a response or respond directly. Only a few of the referral sheets have either the incoming letter or a copy of the response attached.

Arranged alphabetically by agency name and thereunder chronologically.

Chronological File, 1974-75. (Boxes 13-15, 0.8 linear feet)
Copies of outgoing memoranda and correspondence and occasional briefing papers or question and answer briefing sheets. Included are copies of the responses to many of the letters from the public which Ross referred to the departments and agencies for a draft response. Topics include predator control, dairy prices, beef imports, agricultural commodities, food stamps, the sugar tariff, public works projects, Indian affairs, forestry, and fisheries.